Bangers and Mash

I’ve got deadlines circling around my head like planes coming in for a landing at a crowded airport, and my thoughts of cooking lean toward “what do I have in the fridge?” and “what is quick and easy?” Plus we’re limping through another heat wave, which further discourages complicated cooking.

One of the ingredients I know I have is Irish bangers. Huh? Bangers are sausage that seem to contain more bread product (which can vary) than meat, but I am ridiculously fond of them. They’re hard to find—only one local market seems to carry them, and then only frozen—so when I find any I usually buy a couple of packages.

Ingredients list

But for the Irish and English and even a few Australians, they are simply comfort food: sausages and mashed potatoes, usually accompanied by onion gravy.

Note: there are lots of recipes online, which range from simple to ridiculous. Gordon Ramsey has one, as does Ina Garten. Some people add herbs, or even cabbage. Me, I opted for simple and traditional. 

BTW, one source I read claimed that the term “bangers” originated because the sausages used to burst (or go “bang!”) when they were cooking, because of the dried bread mixed with the meat. Who really knows?


Bangers and Mash

Ingredients:

1 pound potatoes (the floury ones, not the waxy ones—you want a soft mash), peeled and cubed (another note: all the good healthy stuff is in the peel—you won’t mind if I leave it on the potatoes, will you?)

4 links of pork sausage (bangers—each serving takes two)

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1 tsp dry mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste

Gravy:

2 medium onions, sliced
3 Tblsp butter
3 Tblsp flour
2 cups beef broth

Instructions:

Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

Drain the potatoes and put them back in the saucepan. Add 3 Tblsp butter and 1/3 cup milk and mash (if they’re too stiff, add more milk). Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

Heat 3 Tblsp butter in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted, add the sliced onions and cook, stirring often, until the onions are browned (about 15 minutes). 

Flour added

Sprinkle the cooked onions with the flour and mix until the flour is evenly distributed. Stirring constantly, pour the beef stock over the onion mixture. Bring to a simmer (still stirring!) over high heat, then lower to medium and cook until thickened (about 6 minutes). Taste and add salt and pepper if desired.

Finished gravy

Heat a thin layer of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Turn down the heat to medium-low, Place the bangers in the skillet and brown on one side (about 5 minutes), then turn them over and cover the pan. Cook another 5-6 minutes.

Place a pile of mash on each plate. Place two bangers on each pile of mash, then top with the onion gravy. 

Serve with brown ale and strong mustard.

This is a very forgiving recipe. Use whatever sausage links you have on hand. Slice or dice your onions. Swap chicken stock for beef stock. Add some red wine to the gravy if you’re in the mood.

It ain't exactly gourmet, but it sure tasted good! Enjoy!

Murder at the Mansion, the first in the Victorian Village Mysteries, is in the top 15 among Pub Alley Mystery Fiction Bestsellers!

Find out more details at www.sheilaconnolly.com

Mr. Right's Baked Spicy Morning Sausages

Back when we had a satellite dish and too many channels, we occasionally watched a Sunday morning show whose name we can’t recall on the Cooking Channel. The cook, a young, flamboyant woman, made these glorious baked sausages and fried eggs. I cannot stand fried eggs. But the sausages? Oh, my.

Let the meat sit out on the counter, unwrapped, while you make your morning coffee. You’re going to mix this by hand, and you don’t want to freeze your fingies off. And yes, letting it sit 15-20 minutes is perfectly safe. We use plain, unseasoned pork sausage or mild Italian sausage.

We wrap these up two-by-two, and freeze them for those Sunday mornings when we want the taste and aroma of sausage without all the mix and muss.

In GUILTY AS CINNAMON, Laurel serves these to Pepper for Sunday breakfast on the houseboat. Laurel's teenage son loves them, too.

"Upstairs, feet hit the floor. Laurel smiled. "The smell of coffee means nothing to that boy. But sausage? Better than any alarm clock."

Mr. Right’s Baked Spicy Morning Sausages

1 pound lean pork sausage
1/2 teaspoon salt (kosher or flakes pack the best flavor punch)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted (see below)
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ cup panko bread crumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan
Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Toast the fennel seeds by heating them in a small, heavy frying pan over medium heat, about five minutes, stirring often. They will turn golden brown and give your kitchen a lovely fragrance. We grind them lightly in a mortar and pestle.

In a large bowl, break up the sausage with a spoon or your hands. Mix in the salt, pepper flakes, fennel seeds, cayenne, bread crumbs, and Parmesan.

Shape the sausage into small patties, about 3" round and half an inch thick. Spray a glass or ceramic baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Lay the patties in the dish, an inch or two apart.

 Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown but slightly tender to the touch in the middle. You may want to stick a knife in one to make sure they are thoroughly cooked and hot.

Wrap the leftovers in plastic wrap—we wrap two together—and place in a freezer bag. These thaw and warm beautifully.

One pound of sausage yields twelve small patties. 

Murder heats up Seattle’s Pike Place Market in GUILTY AS CINNAMON, the second Spice Shop mystery from the national bestselling author of ASSAULT AND PEPPER. 

"A zesty mix of a mystery with all the right ingredients to keep readers turning pages as quickly as possible. Delicious!" -- Suspense Magazine

"Leslie Budewitz is quickly becoming one of my favorite cozy mystery writers! I love how she blends together world building and character development to create just the perfect atmosphere for her stories.” -- Fresh Fiction 

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries—and the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. The president of Sisters in Crime, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat Ruff, a cover model and avid bird-watcher.

Connect with her on her website or on Facebook.